New study shows surge in methane emissions could slow climate change progress

Source: Global Carbon Project of Future Earth

While the growth of carbon dioxide emissions has remained stable in recent years due to climate efforts, methane has surged. Methane comes from a variety of sources (agriculture, wetland areas, fossil fuel production), and the rate that methane is naturally removed from the atmosphere depends on the concentration of other molecules (hydroxyls), adding extra complexity and uncertainty.

The editorial by researchers from Stanford University is published today in the December issue of the journal Environmental Research Letters.

The authors also contributed to the 2016 Global Methane Budget, which shows how methane flows to and from the atmosphere as part of human activities and other sources.

Last year, the Sustainable Gas Institute (SGI) published a White Paper that attempted to quantify and understand the role of methane emissions and carbon dioxide from the natural gas supply chain.

The White Paper provided recommendations with the aim of assessing and improving climate mitigation potential at each stage in the chain.

The first author on the paper, Dr Paul Balcombe, has since spoke at various industry and academic conferences on the subject of how to lower methane from natural gas such as the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE),  IPIECA and Oil and Gas Climate Initiative.

Dr Balcombe provides some comments below on the Stanford University paper’s findings, and on the challenges in understanding methane’s role in climate change.

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“This paper on global trends of methane emissions gives us an excellent perspective on the contribution from different methane sources and the importance on reducing emissions from all sources.

The effect of increasing methane concentrations on peaking climate temperatures could be extremely large and it’s vital that there is a global effort to control and eliminate these emissions where possible.

Oil and gas supply chain leaks and vents represents a large proportion of anthropogenic methane emissions and there is potential to reduce these emissions significantly, via more comprehensive monitoring techniques and the identification and elimination of super-emitting equipment and facilities.

While lowering carbon dioxide has generally been the focus of climate goals, it is important to understand, measure and regulate methane both in agriculture and industry. Our own research showed that there is a lack of knowledge around the contribution of methane to climate change, and no real standardization  for measuring methane.

In general, a lot more research is needed to determine both the man-made and natural contributors to methane in the atmosphere, and how we can reduce them most effectively.”

The full paper can be found here: “The growing role of methane in Anthropogenic Climate Change” Environmental Research Letters, iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/11/12/120207

Dr Balcombe’s White Paper can be downloaded here and further articles about Paul’s work.